It was only a matter of time before BlackBerry’s hat was thrown in to the 3D ring.
Sharp, HTC and perhaps Apple are set to launch 3D smart-phones in the near future, and now it seems Research In Motion (RIM) have put plans in place for its BlackBerries to feature a tridimensional display.
RIM has bought Swedish company The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), who are specialists in producing user interfaces, described by themselves as ‘beautiful’.
TAT has been working on 3D displays for some time and the technology it has developed would be perfectly suited to smart-phone use, with one feature being the switch to a 3D interface based on the users hand position.
However the BlackBerry is more of a functional device, and is not geared towards entertainment like the iPhone is. The user interface is smaller, and whether the market that the phone appeals to would see the value of 3D is questionable.
Despite Google Android and Apple smart-phones proving hugely popular, BlackBerry has it’s own corner of the market and is widely trusted by businesses the world over.
A move into 3D may jeopardise this emphasis on functionality that has proved so popular, but would still be interesting.
Perhaps RIM has its eye on making its flagship device more of an entertainment device, or has chosen to invest in 3D for mapping services.
Either way, 3D is now clearly on the agenda of every consumer electronics manufacturer worth its salt.
Potentially, the biggest thing to come from the term “3d” is that of 3d-printing technology. No, I’m not talking about a 3d photo coming out of your printer, but rather, 3d objects being created, human organs being created from 3d printers for transplant, and they’re already making jewelry parts on 3d printers…3d printing technology will cause the biggest, single paradigm shift in manufacturing of ALL products over the next twenty years.
Here’s an article from a couple years ago that I found to be interesting and enlightening:
http://www.rapidtoday.com/future.html
I foresee a time in the future when a women gets on her computer device (pc, mobile, etc.), designs her own custom dress at “dressprinter.com” for example (eventually the “3d” will be dropped for brevity’s sake), using templates with several personalization options, the dress is then created on an industrial 3d printer and shipped to her house. Perhaps you’ll someday get on “shoeprinter.com”, buy a license to “print” a Nike shoe or a Reebok, customize it to fit your style, and it’ll be shipped directly to you. Personalization/customization is the future of all industries, which is why “3d printing” will be MONSTER. Read the article, it’s good stuff.
Fantastic, 3d smartphones will rule the phone market. Let the smartphone wars begin